Belgium

One of the original participants of the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 in Lugano, Belgium enjoyed early success with its second place that year.  That feat was followed by four last place finishes (two of them receiving the dreaded nul point designation), until 1978's Contest in Paris, where Jean Vallee placed second with L'amour ca fait chanter la vie.  Belgium's first win came in 1986 in Bergen, Norway, when a thirteen year old Sandra Kim (pretending to be fifteen) presented J'aime la vie.  When her true age was discovered, Switzerland, who had placed second, requested that Belgium's win be stripped, because of non-compliance with the Contest's minimum age rules (rules dictate that a contestant must be at least 16 years-old when participating).  The Swiss request was not granted, Sandra Kim kept her trophy, and remains the youngest winner in Contest history, unless the age restrictions are revised.  [A change in the minimum age requirements for the main Contest is is highly unlikely, since Eurovision launched an annual Junior song contest in 2003 to cover the eight to fifteen age group).  Let's take a moment to Belgium's first (and so far only) win:

Belgium continued its tradition of sending a French entry one year and a Flemish one the following year, until language restrictions were lifted (anyone can sing in any language nowadays).  Taking full advantage of the change, Belgium participated with an entry in English in 2002 (Sister by Sergio & the Ladies), placing thirteenth overall.  In 2003, Belgium went all in for the Contest in Riga, and sent the group Urban Trad singing Sanomi in a made-up language and placing a very close second behind Turkey's winning entry.  Sanomi was criticized for being written in a made-up language, with some mockingly remarking that it was a shame that Belgium couldn't find artists willing to sing in the 26+ official languages of Europe.

In the last decade, Belgium has been the hardest hit of Western European countries, in terms of receiving points in the Semi Final stages.  The country has been struggling to make it to the Final (even with the participation of well established stars like Kate Ryan), and has only managed to make it out of the Semi Final once in 2010 in Oslo.  [Of note:  Belgium was one of the loudest critics of the then established televoting structure, which  placed many Western European countries at a severe disadvantage against the voting blocks of Scandinavia, Balkans and former Soviet republics.  The country's efforts to reform the EBU has been successful:  Eurovision now uses a split tele- and jury- vote system, that seems to have diminished block voting to some degree.]  This year's Belgian entry Love Kills, performed by Roberto Bellarosa, is of the usual high quality expected from the country.  But, will it be able to break Belgium's Semi Final curse on May 14 and place into the Final in Malmo: